Grilled Artichoke Wine Pairing Recipe--and Jesusita Fire Santa Barbara

GRILLED ARTICHOKE WITH GRATED CHEDDAR:
4 large artichokes
3 lemons: 1 lemon cut in quarters, 2 lemons halved
about 1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated hard white cheddar
1 cup mayonnaise
paprika, salt and pepper
Cut the artichokes in half, cut out the choke (the thistles at the heart of the artichoke), and trim off the sharp ends of the leaves. (Using kitchen scissors for the leaves is much easier than cutting with a knife.) Rinse the artichoke halves and shake dry. Rub with the cut lemon all over (this keeps the color of the artichokes)
Steam for 15-20 minutes--until an outer leave pulls off easily and the stem can be pierced with a fork. As soon as they are done, plunge into cold water to stop the cooking and drain. Coat all over with good quality olive oil (the quality of the oil will make a difference in the final taste of the dish).
Preheat the grill to medium. Shake off excess oil (to avoid oil dripping on the flame or coals and causing a fire!) and place the artichokes face down. Cook about 5 minutes, watching and turning them as needed. You want the  outside lightly charred but not burned and the inside warm.
Platter the artichokes with the centers up and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve with the lemon mayonnaise below. Serves 8 as a side dish.
Grilled Lemon Mayonnaise:
While you are grilling the artichokes, grill the lemons face down for about a minute. Let them cool a bit, then squeeze the juice into the mayonnaise. Stir well, season to taste with the salt and pepper and sprinkle with paprika. Serve the grilled artichoke with the lively 2005 Thumbprint Cellars Cabernet Franc.

THE SANTA BARBARA JESUSITA WILD FIRE:
The grilled artichoke recipe was chosen last week; this week the idea of grilling anything is far from the minds of Santa Barbarans. We're in day four of the Jesusita wildfire and the ashes of the houses of our friends and neighbors fill the smoky air, wafting down like snowflakes and covering our cars and decks. The darkened sky thrums with the sounds of helicopters and planes making a loop from reservoir to fire, dropping their payloads at the edge of this monster that has caused tens of thousands to flee with the few things they could grab as they evacuated.

This Jesusita wildfire started as just a slim wisp of smoke near some power lines in the foothills above Santa Barbara on Tuesday, which was an uncharacteristically hot day in this city with near perfect temperatures year round. When I first saw it on the news, it was just two acres at 2 pm and could easily been doused by air drops. But it takes a disaster before a State Of Emergency is declared and full resources can be deployed. So when the winds picked up in the afternoon, the fire quickly ripped across the foothills above the heavily wooded Mission Canyon neighborhood and became a menace. Then the winds abated, and by the morning the fire looked like it was just a thin ring around the burn area and the smoke was light. But looks are deceiving and all bets are off when 60+ mph winds drive oxygen into flames. The dreaded sundowner winds created monster 100' flames that spit embers for miles. An enormous column of smoke rose above town, visible as far as Thousand Oaks. For about half an hour, when the winds were at their peak and were blowing right toward downtown, we feared the historic downtown might catch the embers and ignite. Fortunately, the capricious wind changed direction, but not all were spared, our friends' house in the photo was burned that night. They had just escaped the Tea Fire which had taken houses right up to the neighbor to their east. The Jesusita fire took only one home on their street--theirs. They found their Vespa intact and several paintings that firefighters had kindly removed and set on their driveway. Many thanks to the brave firefighters who are sweating and toiling to save our beautiful city! Thursday morning, again, the fire sat down and waited for the winds. This time, their whim was to blow west, scorching miles of scrub and homes set in the canyons above San Roque and San Marcos pass. Strangely, while the winds and firestorm raged in the foothills just five miles from us, we sat out on the deck in perfectly calm weather looking at the moonlight on the ocean. It was a surreal juxtaposition of Southern California and Currier & Ives because huge "snowflakes" were gently wafting down--"snowflakes" of ash. Today the fire rages unabated above Santa Barbara from San Marcos pass to Montecito. If the wind turns again towards the ocean, we are in dire danger because the fire line is so long, maybee 5-6 miles, that if it pushes into town, nothing short of a miracle will stop it. Keep us in your prayers!
Our hearts go out to those who have lost their homes and to all who have taken refuge. We have six fire refugees staying with us, every available bed and couch is filled extra blankets and pillows borrowed from neighbors.

Since this blog is supposed to be about wine and food, let's talk about what to feed a houseful of people. Luckily we had stocked up on Edna Valley Chardonnay during the last Wine Clearance Sale (subscribe to the FREE, no-obligation wine newletter Online Grapevine to hear about future sales). The wine paired well with smoked chicken sausage, Italian Tofurkey tofu sausage, steamed homegrown beets and greens with butter and lemon pepper, crusty bagette and a Greek salad. The 2006 Midlife Crisis Chardonnay from our Wine Cellar would pair well with this meal.

From Fire To Flower In Rattlesnake Canyon

On May 5th two years ago, during an unusual heat spell, a small wildfire was lit in the dry hills above Santa Barbara. Fanned by "sundowner winds", it quickly grew to consume 8,733 acres, destroying 80 homes and injuring several of the valiant firefighters who fought to keep the wall of flames from decimating our historic town. There was one terrifying night when the entire town north of State Street was blocked off by the fire department and it looked like they were going to lose the battle. (read about it here) Miraculously, the wind shifted and our town was saved. But, the charred remains of people's lives and our wilderness areas have taken a long time to heal.

Deer Weed

I had the opportunity to see the miracle of Nature's regeneration on a hike with a docent from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. (calendar) Our docent, Carol, was a physician before retiring; she combined her science background with a passion for plants and volunteers to share her knowledge. As she pointed out the various plants along the hike, reciting both their common and Latin names, I thought to myself that she was a great example of why we should honor older women as the keeper of wisdom. Also in our group was a survivor of the wildfire, Nancy, who lost her home to the Jesusita conflagration and has been living in their barn while planning the rebuilding of their house. Another multi-faceted woman, she rescues wildlife in addition to her career in dental hygiene and was able to give us the human perspective on the impact of the Jesusita fire. She said that though she would never want to go through such a traumatic event again, she found some positives in the process of rebuilding that underscored the recognition that what is important in life are friends and family, not possessions.

Along our route, we could see the blackened branches of trees and shrubs reaching twisted arms to the sky--in the center the green foliage of new growth, a testament to the resilience of the native chaparral. Chaparral is an biome of dwarf trees growing in a drought-prone environment. Carol explained the name chaparral comes from the Spanish word "chaparro" meaning "short and stubby" because the trees and shrubs are lower than a forest. Chaparral plants have small, hard leaves to retain moisture, such as coastal live oak or yucca, or they have tough, water-retaining outer skins, such as cacti, or they have adapted to low moisture conditions by producing smaller leaves with smaller pores so moisture is not lost. It's amazing to see plants, especially flowers, growing out of ground that looks bone dry.

Historic Wagon Road

Among the many things I learned on the hike: Deer Weed changes color when it is fertilized; Rattlesnake Canyon is thus named because its windy shape--not due to a quantity of snakes; the trail was maintained for years by a wealthy New York transplant named Ray Skofield--whose son donated the land for the nearby Skofield Park; part of the trail follows the old wagon road (this photo)--though it's difficult to imagine an old-fashioned wagon making its way up such a steep and rocky course; and that the creek was part of the extensive waterworks developed by Spanish missionaries using conscripted Chumash labor.

Indian Dam

It's difficult to see in this photo (taken with my iphone and overexposed in the sunny area) but this is Indian Dam, built in 1807. You can barely see the rocks of the dam on the left of the waterfall  which is spilling through a gap in the dam. The Spanish built the gravity-propelled aqueduct system to water their crops, vineyards and orchards and supply the Mission with potable water. The creek from Rattlesnake Canyon merged with Mission Canyon and the water was funneled with an aquaduct to storage near the Mission grounds. One can walk around the park adjacent to the old Mission and see the ruins of the aqueduct, a mill, tanning vats, a jail and water storage facilities.

Being an unrepentant foodie, I  shocked the rest of the group by nibbling on elderberries we found along our hike which tasted tannic and not very sweet, the rye grass, sheep sorrel, and Indian lettuce (not recommended due to its fuzziness). I came home and made a beautiful salad with many things from my garden and wanted to share this photo.

La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin

WEEK #1 WINE CLASS:

La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin -- Life is too short to drink bad wine.

In May of 2009, a heat wave dessicated Southern California chaparral. Whether it was an accident caused by "trail gnomes" or arson, a spark in the dry brush, fanned by sundowner winds gusting to 60 mph, created a sinuous dragon of fire that  engulfed the northern hills of Santa Barbara. During the evening of the 8th, the wind turned towards our "gem of the American Riviera" and fiery embers, some as large as softballs, were blown for miles into the heart of the city. For an hour or two, it looked like the town would be lost. But the blessed sea exhaled her humid breath and turned back the dragon. Not only were 80 homes destroyed in the Jesusita fire, but a little bit of Italy was reduced to ashes. The sun-dappled winery where Antonio Gardella and the Companeros made award-winning wine for 25 years was incinerated. Antonio is a rep for the Henry Wine Group, coincidentally one of the suppliers for Touring & Tasting, and is the instructor of wine at the SBCC School of Culinary Arts.
I love his class--he's so eloquent as he rhapsodizes on vitus vinifera: "go out to the vineyards and just BE with the vine...see the sun and the army of vines reaching their arms up to the sky". He exhorted us to volunteer during this harvest season, to "get purple", inhale the aromas, hear the grapes fermenting in the vats, "be one with the vine".  In our first class last week, he went over the basics of vineyard management and gave us an overview of the hundreds of varietals. The best soils are rocky, with limestone, where the vines need to fight to survive. "Vines have to struggle to be great, like a person who has to struggle to make a living has fortitude and a strength of character, vines that struggle are better." The second half of the class is a wine tasting; last week we sampled the Santa Ynez Valley 2006 Andrew Murray Viognier and the French 2006 Domaine Faury Condrieu.

Condrieu is an AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) in the Northern Rhone. It produces Viognier exclusively and once was the name by which Viognier was known for years because it was the only place where the grape was grown in any quantity. As it was, less than 30 acres of Viognier was planted in the 1980s when Fess Parker planted 48 acres, making him the largest producer of Viognier in the world. Condrieu currently has less than 300 acres planted. The grape is difficult to grow, being susceptible to mildew and disease, and it flowers earlier than most grapes, making it vulnerable to spring frost. But the pay-off is a voluptuous white wine, rich in alcohol, round in the mouth, with heady aromatics of apricot, pear and almond. Touring and Tasting has a limited amount of 2008 Challenger Ridge Viognier for sale this week!

Three remarkable French wines are in this week's Online Grapevine special: a sparkling wine, a Rosé, and Rhone blend. This week's wine pairing recipe is a French Tomato Tart: fresh tomatoes, swiss cheese and anchovies beg for a crisp, fruity, delicate wine like the Domaine Sainte Eugénie Corbières Rosé. A perfect end-of-summer wine/food pairing.
FRENCH TOMATO TART:
1 1/2  cups flour
1/2  cup  butter
1  large egg
4  firm-ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lb.)
2  Tbsp.  Dijon mustard
2  cups  (1/2 lb.) shredded Swiss cheese
3  Tbsp.  olive oil
3  Tbsp.  tomato paste
3  Tbsp.  chopped shallots
1  clove garlic, minced
2  tsp. thyme
2  tsp.  chopped fresh marjoram or 1 tsp. dried marjoram
1  tsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
8 canned anchovy fillets, drained
6  to 8 Niçoise or Kalamata olives, pitted
Salt and pepper
CRUST: Preheat oven to 325°. In a food processor or bowl, combine flour and butter. Whirl or rub with your fingers until fine crumbs form. Add egg and whirl or stir with a fork until dough just holds together. Pat dough into a ball, then press evenly over bottom and sides of a 10-inch tart pan with removable rim. Bake until crust is pale gold, about 30 minutes (about 25 minutes in a convection oven).
FILLING: Cut tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out seeds. Cut tomatoes crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices, and lay on towels to drain. Save ends. Remove baked crust from oven and turn oven to 400°. Spread mustard over bottom of crust, then sprinkle evenly with 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Fit largest tomato slices snugly in a single layer on cheese. Cut remaining tomato slices into pieces to fill the gaps; reserve extra tomato pieces for other uses. Sprinkel with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix oil to blend with tomato paste, shallots, garlic, thyme, marjoram, and oregano. Spread over tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Arrange anchovies and olives on tomatoes. Bake until cheese is lightly browned, about 25 minutes (about 18 minutes in a convection oven). Remove pan rim and serve while warm.

Life is too short to drink bad wine--and too short not to appreciate our blessings. Surviving the Jesusita fire made Santa Barbarans appreciate our friends and our firefighters!

A Toast To Antonio Gardella

Last week, Touring & Tasting's president Paul Arganbright and I had the chance to catch up with Antonio Gardella. If you're in the wine business in this town, you know Antonio and love him for his passionate enthusiasm for wine. He is a walking encyclopedia of wine knowledge and in particular, the history of winemakers and winemaking in Santa Barbara county, having been involved in the wine business since the 1980's when many of our iconic wineries and restaurants were developing. One of the first books on winemaking was written by local Ralph Auf der Heide, who founded the Wine Cask, which for years was the top venue for tasting and purchasing wine. Antonio attended Auf der Heide's classes, held in his home wine cellar. Antonio also found books on Napa, Sonoma and the Central Coast, visiting every winery listed during his vacations. He and a group of "cellar rats" met often to taste wines, with the group including Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, Bob Lindquist of Qupé and Doug Margerum, of Margerum Wines who bought the Wine Cask in 1981 and developed the restaurant that became one of 74 restaurants in the world to win the Wine Spectator Grand Award.

Antonio was at the first meeting of the American Institute of Wine and Food with Julia Child and Robert Mondavi and was on the Board of Directors for the local chapter. He helped initiate the Grape Harvest Festival in 1986 which has morphed into the annual Harvest Festival at Ranch Sisquoc. To further his knowledge, Antonio worked in the vineyards at harvest, picking grapes at Babcock vineyards starting in 1983 and staying up all night with fellow wine enthusiasts and winemakers tasting and talking about wine. For five years, he worked as the maitre d' at Piatti, an upscale Montecito restaurant, hosting and suggesting wine pairing, then he sold wine for the distributor J. Eberle Wines. He then worked for Pearson & Hawkins, which was bought by Henry Wine Group, and has been one of the company's top sellers for the last 19 years. In fact, the Henry Wine Group renamed their Most Valuable Player award the Gardella Award. His work with Henry Wine Group has led him to travel in France, Italy, Spain, Chile and Australia, tasting wines and attending international wine events such as Vinitaly.

In addition, in 1985 Antonio founded the Companeros with Sid Ackert, Art Morel and Luis Goena, using grapes from the finest California vineyards and producing wines at Sid's expansive Gubernador Canyon property. Companeros wines have garnered hundreds of gold medals, but none of the wines have been sold. They have been given to friends and used to raise more than $100,000 for charities. Paul and I had the opportunity to visit the winery some years ago--it was a little piece of Italy in Santa Barbara. A quaint, picturesque spot complete with an arbor-covered patio looking out at the wildly beautiful canyon. Sadly, the winery burned during the terrible Jesusita fire in 2010. We were fortunate to taste Antonio's Companeros "Sid's Blend" Pinot Noir as well as the Donum 2008 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that he brought to enjoy with our dinner--smoked salmon appetizer and a seafood stew with some of my garden greens, tomato, saffron, clams, scallops, shrimps and cod.  I will keep the Companeros bottle, as a memento of California winemaking history, and as a reminder of good times with friends. As Antonio says, the friendships that wine brings are even more important than the wine. Coming from someone who has devoted his life to wine, that says a lot about the depth of his friendships. A toast to Antonio Gardella!

Tama's Seafood Stew With Fresh Garden Greens
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, small dice
1/2 cup shallot, small dice
1/4 cup celery, deveined, small dice
1/3 cup carrot, small dice
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups loosely packed collard greens, chiffonade*
8 oz jar clam juice
1/4 cup good red wine
750 gm (about 26 oz) good quality strained tomato, I used Pomi Italian brand
pinch of saffron
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade*
2 teaspoon salt
   
Directions:
Heat the oil in heavy saucepan over medium low heat. Sweat (cook without browning) the garlic, onion and shallot until the onion is translucent. Add the celery, carrot, stock, thyme, and bay leaf and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the clam juice, red wine, tomato, saffron, pepper, marjoram, basil, salt and collard greens. Simmer for another 30 - 60 minutes (longer enriches the flavor), turning the heat to low if necessary so the broth doesn't bubble. The broth should reduce to 2/3 of the original volume. Add a bit more stock if necessary if it has reduced more than this. Stir in the clams, shrimp, fish and scallops. Cover and simmer another ten minutes or until the seafood is cooked and the clams have opened. Serve over rice or pasta. Enjoy with a nice glass of Pinot Noir!
*To chiffonade: roll the greens or basil into a roll and slice very thinly.